Cynthia Martinez

The School Technology and Readiness otherwise known as STAR chart is a

measurement tool used across the State of Texas. The STAR chart is used for
districts and campuses to reach goals and mandated through the No Child Left
Behind Act. The STAR chart provides information about how the school is rated
amongst others with technological resources. The key areas are divided into four
major components: Key Area I Teaching and Learning, Key Area II-Educator
Preparation, Key Area III-Administration & Support and Key Area IV- Infrastructure.
The four components guage how the district can better support the needs of
teacher and student needs based on the information that is rated by teachers. The
report on Hebbronville Elementary showed that most of the ratings were Devolping
Technonolgy.
An evaluative look at Hebbroville Elementary School (HES) versus theTexas STaR
Chart Summaries:
Key Area I:
Teaching And Learning
HES:
9
Developing Tech
State STaR :
59.3% Developing Tech
Key Area II:
Educator Preparation
HES:
10
Developing Tech
State STaR :
68.7% Developing Tech
Key Area III: Administration & Support
HES
12
Developing Tech
State STaR
55% Advanced Tech
Key Area IV: Infrastructure
HES
10
Developing Tech
State STaR
61.0% Advanced Tech
The comparison of Hebbronville Elementary to that of the Texas Campus STaR
Chart are similar in most respects. The Areas of Weakness that is apparent on my
campus that is different from the state is Infrastructure. The Infarasturucture report
for the state is at a Rating of Advanced Technology where as in my campus it is at a
Devolping Technology rating with a mere rating of 10. This does correlate with what
has been observed in the classroom. The teacher has had access to the internet
when it is not down with five student computers at the most. Our library has a total
of six computers in the library for a student population of 491.
The similarities of the Texas Campus STaR chart are that most of the state
and our campus were rated similarily. In Key Area I: Teaching and Learning our
campus was rated Devolping. Our students have access to computers in a reading
lab to work on math or reading fluency which is limited to once a week for 30
minutes. Key Area II: Educator Preparation and Development our elementaray also
was rated a Devolping Tech similar to the State rating. In the campus teachers
rarely use technology as a behavior management tool and the professional
devolpment meetings are limited to powerpoint presentations. In Key Area III:
Leadership, Administration, and Instructional Support the rubric states that there is
a full time technology director per district and our district does comply with this

needed requirement. Local funding for technology has been implemented and
utilized.
I expect that Hebbronville Elementarys rating will be much higher this year.
The district has asked local voters for a $14 million bond for renovations, furniture,
and technology. Just this week Promethean boards were installed, and teachers
were given Microsoft Surface Pros to integrate technology into the classrooms.